Posted tagged ‘Matriculation College’

In the 2012/2013 matriculation college intake only 943 Indian students or 61.27% of the 1539 students have accepted the offer. Due to a lot of political pressure, the minister of education later made a one off offer to fill up the vacant 586 seats to make up the total of 1500 seats as promised by PM. Malaysian Indians must make sure that the 1500 seats offered is filled by Indians every year. There are enough students with good results to fill up these seats as we have seen in 2012/2013 intake.

But our concern is the 586 students rejecting the offer. When asked for reasons why students rejected the offer, ministry of education gave the followings reasons:

The students got better offer

Waiting for better offer

They have enrolled in form six classes.

The above could be the obvious reasons which students may say out. But when questioned intimately the truth comes out.

Many students/parents cannot effort to travel to these matriculation colleges. For example a student from Penang offered a seat in Kuantan Matriculation College. The student boy/girl must pack their bag and travel to Kuantan. The college is somewhere in the outskirt of Kuantan about 1 hours drive or have to take public transport. Parents have to take students for the first time. Of course the environment will be totally Malay and the food will only be catered for Malay students. The few Indian students will be completely overwhelmed by the new very different environment which they are not used to. Indians parents too won’t be at peace back at home worrying about their children. To avoid all these problems they prefer to keep their children near them and enroll in form six classes. They will be more peaceful sending their children overseas than sending to local matriculation colleges.

Besides they just can’t effort the extra expenses of sending their children to matriculation colleges. Many poor students who can be resourceful contributor to nation building are left out of the system due to social injustice, an uncaring bureaucracy and racially divided political system. Only parents who can make frequent regular trips and visits to these matriculation campuses will be sending their children to matriculation colleges.

A Malay parent will not have these kinds of worries. The system will bend and accommodate their needs and wants. But the few non Malay students have to move around as though they are in foreign land. Voiceless and put up with all the limitations like how the rest of us do in our daily life. We have a choice but students in the campus have no choice at all. The poor non Malay students have to take a more difficult route to arrive at the same point at the same time.

If PM Datuk Sri Najib is really concern about accommodating Non Malays in matriculation colleges, he must see that there are more non Malay staffs and hostel wardens to whom students can turn too. I doubt our PM or DPM have that kind of awareness on the needs and wants of non Malays. Our future is in our hand. We are the architect of our own future.

Deputy education minister Datuk Wee Ka Siong said in Dewan Negara (9/7/2012) that for the 2012/2013 intake 4512 Indian students have applied and from that 1539 or 34.11% were offered seats in the 13 matriculation colleges. 1000 students were offered in the first intake and to register on 28/5/2012 and the balance 539 students in the second intake and to register on 13 June 2012.

However from the first intake on 28/5/2012 and second intake on 13/6/2012, only 943 or 61.27% Indian students enrolled in the 13 matriculation colleges. An appeal period from 25/4/2012 to 13/5/2012 was offered to rejected students to appeal again. 34456 students appealed out of which 9527 were non Malays. Then on 2/7/2012 the DPM and education minister made a one off offer to 557 Indian students to fill the vacancy of Indian students who declined the offer. The selection for this intake is already made and offer letter will be send latest by 11/7/2012 and they will register on the 18th july 2012 in the 13 matriculation colleges in whole Malaysia.

There is one matriculation college each in Malacca, Negeri Sembilan, Pulau Pinang, Perlis, Wilayah Persekutuan Labuan, Perak and Selangor. However there are 2 colleges in Johore, Kedah and Pahang. 13 matriculation colleges in Malaysia take in 26700 students to study in their science and accounting streams per year. Since inception in 1999 till 2011, 97% of 220392 students have been successfully enrolled to local universities through matriculation colleges. From the year 2003 a 10% quota was reserved for non Malays.

Politicians and Indian based NGOs must investigate why out of 1539 only 943 students or 61.27% accepted the offer and the balance 586 students rejected the offer? An in depth study will reveal the actual reasons behind the rejection. If the students rejected the matriculation offer because they have better alternative, then there is no lost to the community. But if the reasons are that they were given a different course from what they applied or that they were very small number in a particular matriculation college where they have food problem or unable to adjust due to religious ground, then these matters can be taken up with ministry of education. DPM must explain what is this one off offer? Is it a one off offer because it is election year otherwise those rejected will be offered Malays?

It can be also that Indian students are spoilt and pampered that they will only enroll in the matriculation nearby and anything else a big no. I hope there can be an open discussion on these matters in forums/media or online and the real reason behind the rejection can be identified. On one side students are waiting to go into matriculation colleges which will provide an assured path to local universities but on the other hand students reject such an offer. This indicates that the Malaysian Indian community is economically very diverse and any help for target groups must be identified and not generalized. Hope our weakness is not exploited by the UMNO led BN government.

MIC president had announced on Saturday (16/6/20120) that those who were rejected for Matriculation intake will be given seats in AISMT University. This announcement is to calm down the 400 over students who got more than 7 A but were rejected by the ministry of education. But MIC/BN must explain why despite making public announcement that 1500 seats were allocated for Indian students but only about 781 seats are given? Datuk Seri Palanivel said 700 seats were given. Datuk Murugesan said 800 seats were given. Datuk Ravin Poniah’s secretary said 500 over seats were given in the first intake. So what is the real figure is not known too. But the minister of education couldn’t be bothered about the broken promise of Prime Minister. Indians are only needed for vote purpose and nothing more than that.

During the appeal period for those students who were rejected in the first application where assuming only 700 were taken in, both Datuk S.Subramaniam and Datuk G.Palanivel had announced that the balance 800 seats will be filled. But in the appeal only 81 students were taken in. What happen to the balance 800 will be filled? Instead of demanding the PM to fulfill his promise, MIC leaders have given him an escape route from his promise by announcing that those who were rejected in matriculation intake will be given place in AISMT University. With MIC around it is so easy for UMNO to just ignore Indians. UMNO keeps MIC to act as its apologist to Indian community. MIC has compromised our rights to education many times over.

Can MIC offer scholarship to all these 400 over students? They owe an explanation to the Indian community how they are going to support and sponsor the education of these students from pre-university and university level. Datuk Devamany said that intake of students for matriculation consists of 90 per cent bumiputera and 10 per cent non-bumiputera. Why should it be so? What is the entry requirement for Malay students? Aren’t we citizens of this country and contribute to the coffers and economy of this country. It is the racial discrimination that makes Indian students expect low and have low self esteem. With MIC/PPP around we don’t need enemies.

BN government has systematically alienated the non Malays from the education system. These 400 over students will not be able to go back to the government education institutions, scholarship and any other support. UMNO can rob us in day light despite openly promising in front of a large ponggal gathering in Kapar in February this year. The excuse is the ministry of education did not receive any circular that extra 1000 seats were offered to Indian students. As long as Indian community is naïve, ignorant and forgiving UMNO and their MIC/PPP dispatch boys will keep us begging for pittance. Be the change agent for the change we want to see. It’s now or never.